On 2-3 April 2012, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana will join other countries from around the world participating in the Climate Investment Funds' (CIF) Forest Investment Program (FIP) in Brasilia, Brazil, for their third annual FIP pilot country meeting. As an implementing agent of the CIF, the African Development Bank (AfDB) will also attend.

The FIP aims to support developing countries' efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) by providing scaled-up financing for readiness reforms and public and private investments. As FIP implementation moves forward worldwide, countries will share their innovative approaches to REDD+ investments and working with the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities. A focus will be on business models that engage the private sector while integrating local communities, such as commodity round tables, forest bonds and land reclamation initiatives.

As part of a larger discussion on the role of various stakeholders in the successful implementation of the FIP and beyond, Ghana will present its views on the relationship of its FIP investment plan and CIFs' Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (DGM).

The design and implementation of systems to monitor results and manage knowledge will also be discussed. FIP pilot countries will share their challenges and opportunities with FIP results monitoring, while a representative from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility will present the development of national REDD+ monitoring systems as part of the REDD+ readiness process and elaborate on the importance of developing national institutional capacities.

Professor Skole, Michigan State University, will give an overview of existing methodologies to measure FIP core indicators and identify challenges and opportunities, as well costs, associated with each methodology.